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Notable News

Four Generations of OU Women

Kathy Terry, the mother of soon-to-be Gaylord graduate, Heather Terry, recently shared this message with Dean Ed Kelley about their family's long OU history. 

My daughter, Heather Terry, will graduate this spring summa cum laude with a degree in advertising and is headed to law school this fall. I thought it might interest you to know that Heather will be a fourth-generation OU female graduate. I am certain there are many fourth-, fifth- and perhaps a few sixth-generation graduates in OU's history, but I suspect there are few lines that include so many alumnae. Our family has a lot of OU alumni, my brothers among them, and we are proud Sooners. This year, however, we are celebrating Heather and remembering our mothers and grandmothers who, for nearing now 100 years, worked hard to achieve their independent educational and career goals. In fact, Heather is the second fourth-generation OU alumna in our family (my sister and her daughter are also proud graduates). Finally, it is also important to add that Heather, and each of her mothers before her, are/were members of the Chickasaw Nation, another heritage of which we are also very proud.

Gaylord has been such a wonderful experience for Heather. Thank you and your faculty for enriching Heather's life and guiding her as she continues the family tradition. I appreciate your time and hope this news makes you smile as you think about the accomplishments of your graduates, particularly the fantastic women among them and the certain successes they will achieve. 

Live On, University!
Kathy Terry 

  • Artie Lucile Martie (later Dunn), 1935, Bachelor of Arts. Heather's great-grandmother went on to teach in a one-room schoolhouse in Purcell, where she had some of her younger siblings as students.
  • Lee (Grace Dunn) Shahan, 1970, Master of Arts. Heather's grandmother would become the Director of Admissions and Student Services, and later the Director of Career Services, at the OU College of Law. After a long career, she retired in 1997.
  • Kathryn Denise Shahan (now Terry), 1993, Bachelor of Arts; and 1996, Juris Doctor
  • Heather Nicole Terry, Class of 2021
Heather Terry

New Gaylord Ambassadors Leadership

Congrats to Caroline Sparks and Emily Johnson for being named to Gaylord Ambassadors leadership positions! Sparks, pictured on the right, is a public relations/sociology double major and social justice minor from Tulsa who will serve as chair. Johnston is a public relations major and Spanish/history double minor from Bakersfield, California, who will serve as vice-chair. Their goals for next year are to implement equity-based projects and practices, prioritize community service and help community members adjust to unique issues and stress.

Gaylord Ambassadors

In Memoriam

Join us in honoring the alumnae we've lost over the past few months. They will be dearly missed.


Lillian Morgan Cox

(September 27, 1936 - December 23, 2020)

Lillian Morgan 'Lil' Cox, a lifelong and proud Oklahoman, passed peacefully into the arms of her Savior on December 23 in Oklahoma City at age 84. Lillian grew up in Putnam Heights where she attended Putnam Heights Elementary, Harding Junior High and Classen High School from which she graduated in 1954. Lillian attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She was a proud 66-year member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority where she formed many lifelong friendships. Following graduation, Lil married Gary Edward Cox on July 17, 1958; a marriage lasting until Gary's untimely death in 1985. Following the birth of her two sons, and a stint as a homemaker, Lil began a near 40-year career in education at St. John's Episcopal School, OSU-OKC and Casady School, where she was an award-winning yearbook advisor. She also spent several years as the school's public relations director. 


Judith Wall

(November 27, 1938 - December 29, 2020)

Born an "Army Brat" in Evansville, Indiana, Judy Wall's early childhood was spent in Japan as her father served in the high command of the occupying Allied Forces. Judy was a proud Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Oklahoma and earned her degree in only three years in the period-correct women's major of home economics. Judy was greatly inspired by the feminist and environmental movements of the 1970s. As her children grew, she began to pursue her passion for these causes and for her love of writing. She obtained her master's in journalism from OU and began publishing articles in regional publications such as Oklahoma Today or Arizona Highways. She worked as a staff writer for OU People magazine upon completing graduate school and from there rose to become editor of OU Alumni Publications. Like so many avid readers, she aspired to write the next great American novel. Like so few, she actually had the talent and drive to fulfill this dream. Her twenty-three published novels attest to this. To her own admission, her early works were mainly just "airplane reads" often published as Harlequin Romances, but her talents quickly developed and later works such as "Love and Duty", "Handsome Women" and "Blood Sisters" were masterworks of women's fiction that brought her worldwide publication and critical acclaim.